


Tension

by sea



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Hate Sex, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sexual Tension, Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-16 11:18:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3486269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sea/pseuds/sea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zaeed and Shepard are constantly at each other's throats. It's got to end...somehow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> An ancient fill from the MA!KINK MEME: (Paragon f!Shep) Zaeed's still pissed about Vido getting away. He confronts Shepard. This leads to verbal sparring that turns into physical, and then becomes angry sexy times to vent the frustration and attraction between them.

“You’re a selfish bitch,” Zaeed stated plainly. They were sitting in the mess pushing cardboard textured cubes of food around on their plates. The two hadn’t said a word to each other since Shepard sat down across from him several minutes before, in the only available seat of course.

Busy crew members bustled around flinging data pads and chatting incessantly. You wouldn’t have even known they were sitting in the middle of chaos from the indifferent expression on Shepard’s face. She merely lifted her eyes to his face without moving her head. “Excuse me?”

They had just returned from Zaeed’s mission on Zorya. Things had not worked out in his favour. Vido Santiago had escaped and Zaeed was pissed. She had tried to convince him that he was on a team now and should act like it but to no avail. Zaeed needed to learn his place and she would be happy to help him.

He didn’t respond. He just kept spooning globs of tasteless food into his mouth and throwing mental daggers at Shepard. She knew this was a bad situation. She hadn’t meant to upset him so much, but the way he was acting was infuriating. And now she just felt a blind hatred for him. He wanted to let those factory workers burn just to take out one man. Every bone in her body told her to just let Zaeed go at the next place they docked. Why did he have to be so insufferable and stubborn?

Shepard’s blood pressure rose a bit. Still unmoved from her food she slowly counted to ten in her head, willing herself to not jump over the table and beat the shit out of him right there.

At some point during her counting Garrus had approached and sat down next to Shepard. Taking in her intense concentration and Zaeed’s angry expression, he looked back and forth between them.

“What did you do?” Garrus looked like he was reconsidering sitting with the two of them. Neither one answered. They both just continued to glare at each other heatedly.

“Well whatever you did, I wouldn’t recommend doing it again.” Garrus continued. “When you’ve spent as much time as I have with Shepard you learn not to piss her off. Luckily I learned early on and avoided getting her fist in my face. I can’t say that same for the hundreds of mercs that ended up in pools of their own blood on the Purgatory.” He finished swallowing his mouth full of food. “Or countless other places.” He added with a laugh.

Shepard was still seething in silence. Without a word she got up, handed her plate to Gardner and left for her quarters.

“See? You’ve done it now.” Garrus muttered once Shepard was out of range. Zaeed just let out a growl and went back to his plate.

\--

Despite her best efforts too keep some distance from Zaeed (more for his sake than her own), Garrus had insisted that Shepard bring him on the mission.

The facility was full of Blue Suns mercenaries. They had been too stupid to change the quite a few of their protocols over the past 20 years. Zaeed knew the ins and outs of how the group functioned so here the three of them were, bunkered down behind some crates trying to eavesdrop on the idiot mercs.

“I have an idea.” Without waiting for a response Garrus got up and ran to another group of crates in the distance. Surprisingly the large mass of a turian was unseen by the Blue Suns and quickly got into cover ahead.

Shepard shifted her weight uncomfortably, legs cramping a bit in their strained position. _‘Thanks Garrus’_ she thought as she glanced over to a pissed off looking Zaeed. _'Oh, what a surprise angry again?'_ She rolled her eyes and turned back to face the direction of the mercs.

Several boring minutes passed before she glanced over to Zaeed again. _'Yep, still sulking.'_

“Hey! Drop the attitude, Massani.” Shepard whispered hoarsely. She reached over and flicked him in the forehead. She probably shouldn’t have made physical contact, but there he was brooding like a teenager that got his hover car taken away. He reached over and shoved Shepard so that she lost her balance and fell backwards onto her butt. Shepard gritted her teeth trying to hold back, but now he’d really crossed the line. Without hesitation she grabbed his hand twisting his wrist as she punched him square in the jaw with her other hand. Shocked and pained Zaeed jumped up out of cover forgetting where they were and bringing the attention of the mercenaries right to them. They immediately began shooting in all directions. Shepard pulled him back down yanking on the wrist she’d twisted seconds before causing him to let out a growl in pain. Garrus took the opportunity to overload an explosive crate near by, sending two of the mercs flying.

“Bloody hell,” Zaeed cursed at her. More Blue Suns were beginning to flood the area ahead, but Shepard couldn’t help the smirk as she took in Zaeed’s bloody lip and already bruising jaw. She shook it off in time to pull out her assault rifle and nail an approaching merc in the head.

“Learned your lesson?” Shepard asked casually throwing another merc across the far wall with her biotics. The mercenaries just kept coming, but it was welcome. Taking Zaeed down a couple of pegs and killing an endless supply of mercs was Shepard’s idea of a good day.

She had apparently stunned Zaeed into silence because he wordlessly picked up his rifle and joined her, picking off mercs as they entered his vision.

Garrus was making his way back to them, killing anyone that got in his way. Finally the last few mercs trickled into view. Shepard lifted one in the air and Garrus put a few shots into his head before she slammed him back down to the ground, sending a splatter of blood flying. Zaeed made quick work of the remaining Blue Suns with a well placed inferno grenade. Shepard breathed a sigh as the adrenaline and endorphins die down a little. She always did love a good fight.

The days had passed by okay enough. Shepard tried not to interact with Zaeed as much as possible. And when they were forced to interact all their time spent together was a series of them baiting each other with snide remarks and hate filled glances. The extra tension was not appreciated by the other members of their team. Garrus had tried to discuss it with her, but he’d ended up with a smack to the unscarred side of his face so he quickly let the subject drop.

Shepard found herself tense and wound up. As much as she tried to ignore him, Zaeed was getting under her skin. She threw the data pad she had been reading across her quarters in frustration. She needed it to stop. Shepard was in no condition to fight collectors or reapers. She could barely focus enough to get her mission reports filed and she knew she’d be paying the price sooner rather than later.

She sighed and decided to take a shower to relieve some of the tension in her neck and back. Stepping under the hot water she tried to empty her mind. She ran her hands over her body. As they made their way down her breasts and lower, her fingers found their way to her clitoris. Gently rubbing up and down, she started to feel the tension moving lower down her body. Her hand slid along her folds as she slipped a finger into her passage moaning at the feel of it. She added another finger and sped up her ministrations. Heat was rising in her lower belly. She was on the brink of release quickly bracing herself for impact, but just as quickly it was gone.

When it was obvious her orgasm wouldn’t be making an appearance she removed her fingers and huffed. Leaning back against the wall she ran her fingers through her hair and grabbed the soap to finish cleaning up.

The days were longer after that. She was unable to relieve her tension, sexually or otherwise. Everyone wanted something from her and she was having a hard time keeping track of everything. She had a pile of data pads to review and countless missions that her team needed help with. Not to mention the little problem of acquiring a reaper IFF.

As Shepard approached the CIC the yeoman called to her, saying something about Tali being upset. Shepard turned around and headed for the elevator hitting the button for engineering. Here she came to save the day…again. Not that she minded, Tali was one of her best friends so of course she’d do anything to help her feel better.

The elevator reached the engineering deck and as she stepped foot off the lift she nearly ran right into Zaeed. He gave her a disgusted look as she moved to the side slightly letting him pass. He grumbled inaudibly as he passed her and the elevator doors closed behind him.

 _’Grumpy old son of a bitch.’_ She rolled her eyes and scowled as she entered the engine room.


	2. Chapter 2

“What the hell was that, Massani?” Shepard seethed as she entered the starboard cargo bay. They had just gotten back from Joab, an archeological dig site where the Blue Suns were keeping a Prothean artifact they had somehow gotten their hands on. At this point Shepard was considering never taking Zaeed on another mission again. He constantly second guessed her and tried to piss her off at every turn. This time he had directly disobeyed her causing her to get cornered alone and nearly shot in the throat. A wayward bullet had grazed her neck and she rubbed at the burn mark unconsciously, wincing slightly. Just a few centimeters over and she likely wouldn’t have survived. Giving her lip was one thing, but fuck with a mission and you’re dead.

Shepard furiously marched up to Zaeed, poking him hard in the chest. She doubted he could feel it through his chest plate but he could see it and that was all that mattered. “If you ever disobey my orders again you won’t get another chance to.”

“Fuck you, Shepard.” He spat. “You do whatever you goddamn please and don’t care about anyone else. I spent twenty years of my life chasing Vido and in a minutes time you fuck it all to hell.”

“You’re right. I don’t care about your petty revenge. And yes I would rather let one bad guy go to save civilian lives. I’m the commanding officer of this ship and you will follow my orders or you will be thrown out the airlock. Understood?” Shepard tapped her foot impatiently glaring at him.

Zaeed was not one to just knuckle under and her tone did nothing but enrage him. He knocked her back with a punch to the mouth. She stumbled backwards onto the hard metal floor. “That,” he said calmly, “was for letting Vido get away.”

“And this…” Zaeed was advancing toward Shepard. But she was quicker and got up off the ground fast enough to slam Zaeed against the wall with all her strength, pinning him. She wiped the trickle of blood from her mouth with the back of her hand as she wedged her forearm under his chin.

“Don’t fuck with me,” she growled. “This is not a place you want to go.” Her face was inches from his now. She could smell the dirt and sweat still evident on his skin from their last mission.

This wasn’t good. She hated him and he hated her. It was an unhealthy work environment. One or both of them might be killed on a mission over distractions of blind hatred for one another. Or maybe they’d take each other out during a heated argument. There needed to be some kind of resolution and fast.

Zaeed reached out his hand and grabbed her thigh, pulling her body even closer his. “Oh, it’s not?” he baited her.

“Back the hell off!” Shepard tried to pull back, but he had a good grip on her leg. He was slowly inching his hand higher up, getting closer to her ass. “Zaeed, I will put a fucking bullet in your skull if you don’t let go right this second.” Shepard reached to her side for her pistol only to find it wasn’t there.

“Looking for this?” Zaeed held her pistol in the air with his other hand, the one not currently holding her ass. He tossed the pistol across the room and pushed Shepard back so hard she fell to the floor with a loud thud. Before she could get up of her own accord Zaeed was on her dragging her back up to a standing position. He was behind her with his arm around her neck cutting off her air supply.

“What’s the matter? Little spectre scared of the big bad merc?” he whispered into her ear. “Why don’t you give it up, Shepard? I win.” she hesitated a moment before leaning her head forward and whipping it back into Zaeed’s forehead with a crack. She threw him down to the ground, straddling him and putting her forearm against his throat again.

Shepard should have known to pin his arms, but by the time she’d realized it was too late. Zaeed grabbed her back and rolled her off of him, quickly changing their positions so that he was on top of her with his forearm against her neck in the same manner.

“Get. Off. Me.” Shepard spat with fury. She attempted to wriggle loose, but while she could match Zaeed in just about every other area of combat, brute strength was the one thing he beat her in. For a moment they both just stared at each other angrily. After a beat Zaeed leaned down and crushed his lips against Shepard’s. The cut on her bottom lip throbbed painfully under his harsh kiss, but she couldn’t deny the shot of heat she felt in her lower body. She had weeks of unspent sexual energy and cursed her body for its biological reaction to him. She bit his bottom lip until she tasted his blood in her mouth in return. He pulled back slightly and smirked at her.

He ran a gloved hand up her side as he leaned down to roughly capture her lips again. Shepard sucked hard on Zaeed’s engorged bottom lip causing him to wince in pain. She smiled against him and deepened the kiss, opening her mouth to him. It was anything but gentle, the two fighting for dominance even in a kiss. With the pressure of Zaeed’s arm still tight against her throat and him kissing her so deeply, Shepard could barely breathe. He sensed this and released her throat only to grab both her hands with his and pin them above her head on the floor.

She bucked and writhed beneath him, trying to gain an edge over him. Both still clad in their armor, their suits clashed together loudly at the friction. Zaeed grabbed both her wrists in one hand, moving the other to work at the releases on her armor. Tossing the pieces aside until he’d completely freed her upper body. He took in the sight of her bare chest and midriff smirking again and shaking his head. 

“What have we got here?” he ran his still gloved fingers over her right breast, circling her navel and running it back up over her left. Shepard shuddered under his touch. He leaned down to lick the skin along her collarbone, grinding his armor covered hips against her’s.

Zaeed let go of her hands long enough to release the seals on his own armor, freeing himself of it before turning his attention to her bottom armor. She helped him to shed the remaining armor pieces, leaving them both in their underwear. Shepard found herself drawn to the scars that marred Zaeed’s broad chest, reaching out to touch them lightly. They were both warriors. The scars represented something familiar to her and something undeniably hot. She unconsciously lifted her hips to him, feeling the bulge in his pants rub against her intimately. He groaned at the contact.

He slipped his hand between them, running it over her clothed slit he could feel her wet heat. He stroked her through the cloth with his thumb, eliciting a moan from Shepard. Moving her underwear to the side he stroked the bare skin underneath it, tracing his fingers over her labia, but avoiding the spot that desperately begged for contact. She let out a noise of disappointment trying to move into his hand, but he immediately removed it shaking his head. “Ah, ah, ah.” He chided. He moved back up to her breasts and took a nipple between his fingers, pinching and teasing it. She growled and wiggled up to him, rubbing her wet core against his clothed erection again. She felt it pulse against her and she could barely contain the moan of desire brewing in her chest.

When he could take the teasing no longer Zaeed finally stood to remove the remaining cloth barriers. Pulling Shepard up he lifted her effortlessly and sat her down on the railing along the wall holding her body up with his own. Grasping her tightly against him he slid into her heat slowly, watching her face as she adjusted to the thickness of his cock inside her. She wrapped her legs around his body. He began to move so slowly it ached, teasing her before pulling all the way out and slamming back into her.

They built a steady rhythm together. Shepard leaned forward and dragged her teeth across Zaeed’s neck biting here and there and eliciting a rough groan from him when she did. He pushed her arms back against the wall and pressed his lips to her’s indelicately, thrusting deeper inside her. He moved perfectly in her and she moaned against his lips. He moved a hand between them to stroke her clit in time with his thrusts.

Zaeed’s breathing was getting shallow as he approached his climax. His thumb didn’t slow on Shepard’s center and she was nearing her own. She was getting dizzy, frantically thrusting against him and tightening her walls around him, searching for the release she so desperately needed. Soon she found it and came hard screaming into Zaeed’s neck. The feeling of her contracting around him was enough to send him over the edge. He thrust roughly into her a few more times spilling his seed deep within her.

Zaeed pulled out of her slowly, but kept his body to her holding her up against the wall. They stayed together for a few minutes, recovering from their exertions. Shepard’s body felt completely relaxed for the first time since she’d been brought back. All of the stress of their arguments over the past weeks had melted away. Zaeed released Shepard’s body from his own as their breathing returned to normal.

It was quiet except for the hum of the Normandy’s engines.

“You should have just let me kill him, Shepard.” Zaeed broke the silence. “The galaxy would be better off without that bastard.” He didn’t look at her as they dressed.

“I know it would.” She was picking up the pieces of her armor that were strewn across the room.

“I get why you let him go, but it doesn’t make it easier. Not when he was so close.” Zaeed breathed a sigh looking almost sad.

“We’ll get him, Zaeed.” Shepard said grabbing the last of her armor from the floor. “I promise.” She added as she exited the cargo hold. The one thing Zaeed had learned during his time with Shepard was that she never broke her promises.


End file.
